Thursday, May 19, 2016

Enlightenment Is ...

"Enlightenment is like coming homeEverything is clear.......Familiar!If there is hesitationEven a speck of doubtIt ain’t your home."- Author Unknown

"The Large Sutra on Perfect Wisdom claims that the Six Perfections are "bases for training." This means that they constitute a series of practices or "trainings" that guide practitioners toward the goal of enlightenment or awakening. These six "trainings" are the means or methods to that all-important end. But the perfections are much more than techniques. The are also the most fundamental dimensions of the goal of enlightenment. Enlightenment is defined in terms of these six qualities of human character; together they constitute the essential qualities of that ideal human state. The perfections, therefore, are the ideal, not just the means to it. Being generous, morally aware, tolerant, energetic, meditative, and wise is what it means for a Buddhist to be enlightened. If perfection in these six dimensions of human character is the goal, the enlightenment, understood in this Buddhist sense, would also be closely correlate to these particular practices. Recognizing this, one sutra says, "Enlightenment jus is the path and the path is enlightenment.: To be moving along the path of self-cultivation by developing the Six Perfections is the very meaning of "enlightenment.""- Dale S. Wright, The Six Perfections, p. 4

“Enlightenment is man's release from
his self-incurred tutelage. Tutelage is man's inability to make use of his
understanding without direction from another. Self-incurred is this tutelage
when its cause lies not in lack of reason but in lack of resolution and courage
to use it without direction from another. Sapere aude! 'Have courage to
use your own reason!'─ that is the motto of enlightenment.”
- Immanuel Kant, An Answer to the Question: What Is Enlightenment?

“I shall no longer be instructed by the Yoga Veda
or the Aharva Veda, or the ascetics, or any other doctrine whatsoever. I shall
learn from myself, be a pupil of myself; I shall get to know myself, the mystery
of Siddhartha." He looked around as if he were seeing the world for the first
time.”
- Hermann Hesse, Siddhartha

“There is strong shadow where there is much light.” - Johann Wolfgang von Goethe"The real meaning of enlightenment is to gaze with undimmed eyes on all darkness."- Nikos Kazantzakis

“One does not become enlightened by imagining figures of light, but by making the darkness conscious. The latter procedure, however, is disagreeable and therefore not popular.”

- Carl G. Jung"Always keep your mind as bright and clear as the vast
sky, the great ocean, and the highest peak, empty of all thoughts. Always keep
your body filled with light and heat. Fill yourself with the power of wisdom and
enlightenment."
- Morihei Ueshiba

"To enjoy good
health, to bring true happiness to one's family, to bring peace to all, one must
first discipline and control one's own mind. If a man can control his mind
he can find the way to enlightenment, and all wisdom and virtue will naturally
come to him."
- Buddha

"If we demand
enlightenment, it hides. All that we can do is make ourselves
enlightenment-prone. We learn to treasure the possibility of awakening in all
moments and circumstances. We learn to simplify and cultivate the receptivity
of heart that can be touched by profound understanding. We learn to listen
deeply and discover stillness amid the movement in our world."
- Christina Feldman

"If I could
define enlightenment briefly, I would say it is "the quiet acceptance of what
is."
- Wayne Dyer

"Enlightened space, the place of unconditional love,
cannot be achieved until and unless one is willing to be comfortable with
paradox and confusion."
- Ralph Walker

"It is not easy to convey, unless one has experienced
it, the dramatic feeling of sudden enlightenment that floods the mind when the
right idea finally clicks into place. One immediately sees how many
previously puzzling facts are neatly explained by the new hypothesis. One
could kick oneself for not having the idea earlier, it now seems so obvious.
Yet before, everything was in a fog.'
- Francis CrickOur understanding of "enlightenment" varies like living in Paris, Tehran, Tokyo, Nashville, or Red Bluff varies. How to Live a Good LifeBuddhismEnlightenmentA Philosopher's NotebooksEquanimity, Tranquility, Inner Peace